The Boss's Kitchen: Part 2 (Island!)

This week's "Boss's Kitchen" post will be all about my island. I want to discuss my decision on the shape of the island, as well as some special features my wife and I included. 

Let's start with the shape.  We picked this "T" shape mainly because our room (as many of our clients' rooms) is not quite wide enough for a typical island width (usually between 24" and 48" wide). To allow for good walkways (42" wide) we had to size the island appropriately to fit between our counter depth refrigerator (more on that in a later post) and our counter with the sink. This only left space for 21" deep cabinets facing the counter with the sink.  

We knew that we wanted an open bookcase cabinet on the end of our island and, frankly, we didn't love the look of a 21" wide bookcase. So, we decided to use a 27" wide bookcase to give the island a larger look even though the rest of it was 6" shallower. Here is a picture of how it looks with the "T" shape and larger bookcase:

Moving along now to some of the special features.... We wanted a nice place to store a few bottles of wine. To do this, I created a 6" wide void between the island cabinets and made wine cubes out of cabinet material. Here is the finished product:

On the reverse side, we also had this same 6" void. By code, every island needs electrical outlets so this void gave us the perfect place to put our outlet (plus it's now super easy to use a mixer or other electrical products on the island!). Underneath this outlet, I installed a small hook for a hand towel (and this is a perfect location for it, since it's right across from the sink).  

On either side of the hand towel cubby, we elected to use drawer base cabinets. The one on the left is used to store our mixing bowls and Tupperware containers. This is a great place for both, as the majority of our prep-work and cleanup happen on the island. In the cabinet on the right, we store aluminum foil, plastic wrap, Ziploc bags, etc. 

So, that's the overview of the island we designed for our kitchen. If you have any questions, please ask us on our Facebook page or send us an email.  Stay tuned for next week's post on the perimeter features of our kitchen.

All the best,

Bill Hecht

President & CEO

David Hecht Custom Kitchens

The Boss's Kitchen: Part 1 (Welcome!)

As President of David Hecht Custom Kitchens, I often get asked, “well, what does your kitchen look like?”.  So, I’ve decided to start this new series of blog posts that will answer that very question.  To begin, I’ll provide a brief overview of my kitchen.  In future posts, which will be posted each week on Tuesday, we’ll go into more specific details on the features and functionality of my kitchen.   

To begin, my wife and I selected Brookhaven cabinets, made by Wood-Mode, in a stained maple.  The stain is called nutmeg and gives maple a nice warm feel (maple tends to stain either more blonde or brown, so this particular stain is a little bit different than what you'd normally see).  

We decided on cabinets that bring the crown moulding right up to our 8' ceiling.  This eliminates the dust collector on top of the cabinets and provides an additional shelf for storage within the cabinet.

To complement the crown moulding, we have a light valence attached to the bottom of the wall cabinets.  What's a light valence?  It's simply a piece of moulding that is used to hide under-cabinet lighting (in our case, LED light bars).  This valence also helps finish off the aesthetics of the kitchen.

Here are two photos of the kitchen so you can see what I'm talking about.  We'll have more detailed photos and discussion in next week's post on the features in the island of the kitchen.  If you have any questions in the meantime, please ask us on our Facebook page or send us an email.

All the best, 

Bill Hecht

President & CEO
David Hecht Custom Kitchens